Zheng Xiaoxu

Zheng Xiaoxu (2 April 1860-28 March 1938) was Prime Minister of Manchukuo from 9 March 1932 to May 1935, preceding Zhang Jinghui.

Biography
Zheng Xiaoxu was born on 2 April 1860 in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, and he obtained an intermediate degree in the civil service examinations. In 1885, he became a secretary of statesman Li Hongzhang, and he was sent to Tokyo, Japan in 1891 with the Chinese legation. He worked with the Chinese community in Kobe until the First Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1894, and he withdrew from public life after the 1911 overthrow of the Qing dynasty by the Kuomintang of Sun Yat-sen. In 1923, he became a close advisre of ousted emperor Puyi, and he was made the first Prime Minister of Manchukuo under Emperor Puyi by Japan in March 1932. Zheng hoped that the existence of Manchukuo could lead to the restoration of the Qing, but he later found out that the Kwantung Army controlled the politics of the puppet state, so he resigned in May 1935. He died in 1938.